unfull en · ADJ
Pronunciation
- /ʌnˈfʊl/ (General-American, Received-Pronunciation)
- ŭn-fo͝ol' (General-American, Received-Pronunciation)
- /ʊnˈfʊl/ (Ireland, Northern-England)
- (General-American) audio
- /ʌnˈfʉl/ (Northern-Ireland, Scotland)
Etymology
From Middle English unfulle (“incomplete”), from un- (prefix meaning ‘not’) + ful (“filled to capacity, full; complete, whole”) (from Old English ful, full (“filled, full; complete, entire”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *pleh₁- (“to fill”)). The English word is analysable as un- (prefix meaning ‘not’) + full.
Meanings
-
Not full or complete; incomplete, imperfect.
[T]h’vn-full Harmony / Of vn-even Hammers, beating diverſly, / VVakens the tunes that his [Tubal-cain’s] ſvveet numbery ſoule / Yer birth (ſom think) learn’d of the vvarbling Pole.
1608, [Guillaume de Salluste] Du Bartas, “[Du Bartas His Second Weeke, […]. Adam. […].] The Handi-crafts. The IIII. Part of the I. Day of the II. Week.”, in Josuah Sylvester, transl., Du Bartas His Deuine Weekes and Workes […], 3rd edition, London: […] Humfrey Lownes [and are to be sold by Arthur Iohnson […]], published 1611, →OCLC, page 290:
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| unfuller | Degree=Cmp | lexicographic | |
| unfullest | Degree=Sup | lexicographic |